University of Wisconsin President Ray Cross on Tuesday asked the Legislature's budget-writing committee to approve a new public authority for the UW System, a "dedicated and stable funding stream" and to reduce the governor's proposed $300 million budget cut over the next two years.

Shortly after he finished his testimony, a handful of protesters burst into the room shouting, "No cuts, no deals." Followed by four Capitol police officers, the protesters marched past the table where Cross was sitting to give testimony before the Joint Committee on Finance.

If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp. and has to reimburse the company, Koss Chief Executive Michael Koss should also be ordered to personally pay the public company he runs, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

Grant Thornton, Koss Corp.'s former auditor, should also have to pay a portion of any award that may be ordered, Park Bank argued in the latest twist in a long-running court fight stemming from Sachdeva's massive embezzlement.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," the bank said in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss, in this case, those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(3)

Sports Blogs

The courting of J.P. Tokoto

It isn’t often that the State of Wisconsin produces a high-school basketball player who’s courted by virtually every high-major Division I program in the country.

This happens to be one of those times, though, with everyone wondering where Menomonee Falls junior wing Jean-Pierre Tokoto is going to wind up.

Coming off a sophomore season in which he led the Indians to within a game of the WIAA Division 1 state tournament, the 6-foot-6, 180-pounder returns for the 2010-’11 season bigger and stronger after more than four straight months of rigorous workouts both in the weight room and on the hardwood.

As my story in today’s Journal Sentinel illustrates, Tokoto’s measurables for a 17-year-old are almost off the charts: a 40-inch vertical leap and 4% bodyfat to go along with more than a respectable 210-pound bench press and 315-pound squat (Becker says Tokoto could go higher, but Becker limits the amount of weight he puts on his shoulders and back).

Trainer Steve Becker, who’s been putting Tokoto through these workouts, said Tokoto already ranks as an elite athlete – and this is coming from a guy who’s worked as a strength and conditioning assistant with both the Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers.

To get a sense of what Tokoto puts himself through, he and his stepfather, Trevor Trimble, asked me up to Becker’s gym in Mequon to watch a workout. I was even invited to join in, but I wisely threw in the towel after about 10 minutes, instead choosing to view the torture from the sideline.

Bottom line, Tokoto is as advertised – a physical freak who is well aware of his shortcomings both in the gym (overall strength/lack of bulk) and on the court (mid-range game, perimeter shooting) and working overtime to try and improve on them.

He’s also humble, soft-spoken and polite. Tokoto mowed lawns for $30 a pop in the summer for spending money, revels in his role as big brother to his energetic younger siblings and values his friends and teammates to the extent that he’s made it a point to bring some of them along on the unofficial recruiting visits he’s taken.

Which brings us to what everyone wants to know: which school is he going to pick?

Well, let’s talk first about where Tokoto has been. As a Class of 2012 prospect, he can’t yet take his five allotted official visits, which are paid for by the schools. He has, however, checked out quite a few prospective suitors with his parents.

So far, he’s unofficially visited the biggies: Duke, Kansas, Kentucky (twice) and North Carolina; a few others: Alabama, Indiana and Maryland; and the locals: Marquette and Wisconsin.

The assumption of most is that with the bluebloods of college of basketball in the hunt, Tokoto naturally wouldn’t entertain the prospect of staying home. That line of thinking would be incorrect, however.

“Everybody’s in the running,” he said. “There’s no favorites.”

What Tokoto is looking for – not to mention his parents – is twofold.

“I’ll tell any coach, and we make it no secret – he wants to play, and he’s putting in the time to where he should expect to play,” Trimble said. “You can’t make an emotional decision on choosing a school because they’re this title or they’re nationally known. We have to be very real about his development, and obviously we have another year before we really feel pressed to say, ‘We’ve got to start winding it up.’ “

“Trevor handles the basketball side. I don’t care about that. I’m about books,” she said. “ ’What are you doing for my kid? What kind of tutoring is provided? Does the academic advisor travel with the team? Is the academic advisor just for men’s basketball? What percentage of the basketball players are graduating?’ It’s all stuff I’ve learned to ask and I’m so very focused on that.

“That’s where he’s going to end up – a school that gives 100 percent support to the basketball team itself. To me, that’s so important. It keeps them very focused.”

MU and UW would certainly appear to fit the bill in both those areas. The schools’ close proximity to Menomonee Falls, Tokoto said, are positives as well

Tokoto and his parents are also keenly aware of the pull fans for both programs have with regard to keeping him in-state. Tokoto said he gets it on a friendly basis every day at school from his teachers, even, with both MU and UW grads giving him impromptu pitches.

“It’s tough,” Trimble admitted. “You’ve got two great guys (Buzz Williams and Bo Ryan), and we take pride in what both of those programs have been able to do. Both those schools, it’s a Wisconsin pride. We’ve got two schools right here that, they’re in the tournament every year. D Wade was Final Four. Wisconsin was Final Four a couple years before that.

“At the end of the day I guess I would want people to know we would never want him to receive any flak publicly no matter which way he goes. This is home for him, it’s going to remain home.”

I asked Tokoto himself what he liked specifically about both MU and UW.

MU

“Marquette is 20 minutes away from home, so that’s a benefit. I’ve been down there, played open gym, seen some practices. I just liked the way they did things down there. Open gym, everybody was going at it, leaving it on the court. Nobody got mad at each other, which I liked a lot. Their campus gives you one of those feels, like, they’re just so together as a family. Coach Williams is truthful, and he speaks his mind. If you need to work on something or you need to get something done, he’s going to tell you straight up. He’s one of those family guys – he just gives off that feeling.”

UW

“Wisconsin, of course, is close to home also. Besides North Carolina, they’ve recruited me the hardest out of all the schools that are recruiting me. They call non-stop, which is good. I love it. It’s good talking to them all the time. Of course, it’s good going out there for the football games and stuff, have a great time. Their basketball team, when I first got an offer from them people were telling me, like, ‘They score 50 points a game.’ Then we finally went to a game. What really opened my eyes was Duke -- they were sticking with them, and of course the outcome was they beat them.

“I was surprised because it was a game up there in the high 80s, and they were right there with Duke. People are going to say, ‘They only score 50-60 points a game, they play slow, they don’t fast break, only play half court.’ But that’s what every team does – if they can’t fast break, they’ve got to slow it down. I got it first-hand. I went to see them play and they beat the national champions. That was a real eye-opener for me. Coach Bo, he’s just like Coach Williams – real truthful. He’ll tell you what’s up. It’s kind of a home feeling there, too.”

So, there you have it, on the day high-school practices start in the state, in Tokoto's own words.

I'll be checking back in with him periodically over the course of the season for updates on his recruitment. The way it sounds, though, he likely won't be whittling his list down until sometime in the spring -- once Menomonee Falls' season is over.